Scottish Rite Update

Katelyn's Scottish Rite check-up for her arm went great!  Absolutely no worries or anything of concern.  The doctor was pleased that she hit all her first year milestones without a problem.  Her next appointment will be in July 2013.  Here are a few things that the doctor reminded us, and the answers to some questions we're commonly asked:

• Does she have feeling at end of her left arm?  Yes, 100%.  Hot, cold, pain, texture-- the nerve endings are completely normal.  This is why many people don't like wearing prosthetics.  While they look amazing, it just feels like plastic.
• When will Katelyn get a prosthetic?  Not for years, and we will let it be her choice (for example, if she wants some sort of extension to help her ride a bike).  Given how independent and adaptable she is, though, I wouldn't be surprised if she someday finds that a prosthetic just gets in the way.  
• Does/will she sometimes feel pain radiate in her left arm?  No.
• What about the tiny finger at the end of her arm?  It will continue to grow in proportion to her arm and will have some degree of functionality, but it's not going to grow into a full-sized finger that extends out from her arm.  To quote the doctor, "Her arm won't look like a unicorn."  :)

Scottish Rite is like Candy Land for an explorative child like Katelyn.  She was in a great mood and we walked all over the place before her appointment.  I tried getting some normal head-on pictures of her, but those didn't work out because she wouldn't be still. 

A few additional update of some of Katelyn's favorite things:

• The bunny at daycare.  There is a sweet, docile bunny in the hallway, and Katelyn would be content sitting by the cage all day long, giggling each time the bunny hopped.
• Our dog, Baylor.  They are BIG buddies.  When I pick Katelyn up in the afternoons, I tell her we are going home.  She immediately starts doing her dog imitation-- sticking her tongue out repeatedly (this is because Baylor licks her ALL THE TIME!).  To Katelyn, Baylor = home.  When Katelyn wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is her dog imitation, as if to say, "I'm awake now.  Where's Baylor?" 
• Snuggling.  She gives hugs generously and loves to sit in a lap-- any lap.  Her teachers said she is a jealous girl; she does not like it when another child is sitting in the teacher's lap!
• Playing "chase."  When one of us or Baylor enters the room, she giggles and races in the opposite direction.

Father's Day

Dave is a wonderful father!  He is exactly the kind of father that I always dreamed my child would have.  Dave and I are both blessed to have wonderful fathers who set great examples of what a Daddy should be.  And Katelyn adores her Daddy.  He can make her laugh like no one else.  She loves sitting on his shoulders or in his lap.  When he walks into a room, her eyes light up with a playful, mischievous look and she grins from ear to ear. She wants to eat whatever he is eating and loves sharing a bowl of applesauce with him. Watching them together is one of my greatest joys as a wife and mother.  

My sister, Christy, speaks only Spanish to Katelyn, just as she does with her own daughter. Katelyn thinks it's hilarious!  When Christy speaks to Katelyn, Katelyn responds with laughter.  I guess she likes the expressive rhythm/sound of the language, and she finds it amusing that Christy is speaking differently than us.  Since Dave and I are not strong Spanish speakers, we figure Christy is Katelyn's best shot for getting ahead linguistically-- and maybe we can learn something along the way, too!  We figure at some point Katelyn will see Christy as a more than a comedian and will start to understand the words.

laughing with/at Tia Christy

Annabelle and Katelyn rubbing their heads together.

It was a group effort getting Katelyn to smile for this picture.  The rest of the family is behind the camera singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  I said, "Sing a song!" and everyone immediately starting singing that song in unison, with hand motions, like a choir.  It was really funny. Katelyn seems to be enjoying the show.

With Granddad in his TX State Guard uniform.  As Chaplain, he spearheads a toy drive that benefits children's hospitals.  One of those hospitals happens to be Scottish Rite, Katelyn's arm hospital!  The toy drive has been an enormous success and has grown to reach children's hospitals all across Texas. When the project started several years ago, we had no idea that his future granddaughter would be a patient at one of the benefitting hospitals!